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JuOSu · 01-31-2020, 06:14 AM

Growing up in Austria, being on the ice was not the first choice. In Austria, soccer is still the dominant sport, even though we are not necessarily all that good at it. But, we are also a winter sport kind of country, though in general skiing is the big one that dominates. We also do really well in some other winter sport categories, including ski jumping and such. Oddly, we are not the best at ice skating or ice hockey. It never felt like a natural thing for me to get into, but once I first tried skating with my dad, I immediately fell in love with being on the ice. I would often beg my dad for hours to go to the rink and it just felt so natural and amazing to be on the ice and I got better very fast. Getting into hockey was another big step. So far I had only skated but it felt like I was so good at it, I might as well hold a stick. It took some time getting used to and I was not really a natural at it, but hard determination made me improve over time and I would just spend hours on the ice practicing and improving my skills.

***Gwdjohnson*** · 01-31-2020, 06:31 AM

Gabe Johnson started his hockey career rather later on in his childhood. Soccer was always his sport of preference, and as a kid he much preferred playing a ball with his feet than a puck with a stick. At youth levels in Canada he played soccer and was a pretty standout talent, but it eventually became too difficult to focus on footy full-time, as the climate didn't allow for him to consistently be working on his game and playing competitively. Then came hockey, which as an indoor or outdoor sport in his hometown was much more accessible. He started playing hockey, as an athletic defenceman, and the sport came naturally to him and became his new sporting passion. Consistently putting in the work to improve and catch up on the level of practice of those who started younger than him, Johnson in the end can be satisfied with the efforts that he put into hockey, as he became a 2nd overall pick in the SHL. He hasn't forgotten his soccer roots, however, and enjoys playing in casual footy leagues back home time-to-time.

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Gaia Mormont · 01-31-2020, 07:14 AM

The early hockey life of Igantius Blunt was not an elite one. The young boy growing up in the back hills of Serbia did not have a lot of money to play the sport that fascinated him. But one thing he did have was an abundance of natural ice and a heart that could not be dissuaded. A pond behind the dairy shack where he lived froze over 8 months of the year and so the little Serb would take an old pitchfork that had broken off and modified it into his first hockey stick. And for a puck? He would form old cow shit into pucks an let them freeze over night. The net he learned on was made out of old branches and the youngin would spend most of his days just firing pucks into the net. It taught him to have a gentle hand because the shit pucks would break up sometimes and a slapshot might explode the puck beyond recovery. He taught himself accuracy and patience and most of all his perseverance kept him dreaming of one day playing in the SHL.

karey · 01-31-2020, 08:32 AM

Marius was born in Latvia, in a small farm house out-side of Riga. However, the foray into hockey came when he was 8 years old, having moved to Luneburg, Germany with his mom alter his father had walked out. Marius· mom, of German descent came from a line of hockey players, as her lather, Marius· grandfather, was a stellar player in his own right before retiring early due to chronic knee issues. Without a father figure, the young Viktor became very attached with his grandfather, it wasn't long before a stick was in his hands. Hockey came naturally to Viktor, but where Marius excelled was his determination to be better. Having the guidance of his grandfather and the natural determination to succeed, Marius pushed himself to the limit to be the best player he could. Sadly, the Marius family lost their patriarch to cancer in 2014, the same year Viktor was to make his senior debut for Eisbaeren Berlin. The loss of his role model took a mental toll on the young rookie as the team released him from his contract only a few months into the season. Viktor spent that season looking over the family estate in lieu of his grandfather, forfeiting that year of hockey, but that year of respite might have been the best for Viktor. The break al-lowed him to mourn, be there for his mom, and put things in perspective that he had the opportunity to take care of his family, and be the man his grandfather was. This new found devotion, and the dream to one day provide for his family through hockey pushed the young winger back onto the ice, signing a multi-year contract with his hometown Dinamo Riga of the KHL. Marius spent the next two years posting team highs in goals and points for Dinamo Riga, leading them to the playoffs in his second year.

Wallflower · 01-31-2020, 12:16 PM

The first time Bale picked up a hockey stick was in the 10th grade. He was a pretty fat kid who looked like his favorite food was just eating the Pillsbury Doughboy. Fat, ugly (still is), and relatively unathletic. However, he picked up a stick and was a maestro on the ice. A fan of music, he had a certain cadence and rhythm to the way he moved on the ice. The way he skates? Absolutely magical to the eyes. The way he slap shots a puck? Like the base drop of your favorite song. When people saw this skill, they were intrigued not amaze. He needed to get in shape, so that's what he did. The natural rhythm was there, but the athletic prowess simply was not. When he saw the natural skill and his hatred for school, Bale lived in the gym and became elite. There's no way around it and there's a reason he has and is becoming an elite player in the SMJHL. What starts here changes the world.

jtwilson1214 · 01-31-2020, 12:53 PM

For Jack Wilson, hockey was an adopted love. Wilson had grown up watching hurling, soccer, and most importantly, rugby. When he was young he would go out with his friends and pretend to be the Irish national team. As Jack grew up he thought that rugby was going to be the sport of his future until he realized...he had no hands. So he had to reevaluate, his parents took him to an ice rink, one of the few in the entire country and he instantly fell in love. He was on the ice every day his mom would take him, working on his crossovers and backward skating until his legs wouldn't carry him any farther. Wilson would stay up late into the morning to watch the SHL games that were on at the time. So Wilson's dream had changed, he dreamed about one day skating in the SHL and playing for the cup. Unfortunately...he still has no hands.

*Flowseidon* · 01-31-2020, 02:27 PM

In Antigonish, there isn't a whole hell of a lot to do. There's a few bars, lots of university students, and some good spots to play hockey. A way of life growing up in the town, Brogen was in skates shortly after he could walk, and found his winters spent outside playing shinny or on the pad at the local rink. Instilled with a strong work ethic from his blue-collar parents, Brogen was always pushed that if he was going to be doing something, there was no doing it in half measures. He quickly turned his passion for the sport into near obsession, earning himself playing time in AAA before moving up a league to play bantam as an underager before getting into Jr B with the local Bulldogs. Hockey was all Brogen would think about, and while he was a good student, he knew that getting his work done early would lead to more time that he could be on the ice.

While it's very common for a young Canadian to grow up dreaming of playing in the SHL, Brogen committed to it, writing down daily tasks and goals to get himself there. Starting out with shooting pucks, hours of skating, and as he got older morphing into lifting weights to get stronger, faster and better. While naturally a good talent, Brogen put every bit of time and effort he could into trying to realize his dream. He now sits about as far away in North America as he could possibly get, realizing his dream of playing in the big leagues, though not exactly in the climate he was used to.

CanadianDuck · 01-31-2020, 03:30 PM

As a kid, Steven Moyer loved watching every hockey game he could. He would listen to the games on the radio and dreamed of playing the game he loved as a profession. When he first started, many people said he wasn't good enough to play, but this only fueled him. He spent every waking moment practicing his passing and speed until he was a top player in the young league he played in. Things always find a way of working out the way they are supposed to, and this was very true when Steven had to take a year off to deal with some very personal things and thought he would never play in the big leagues. A team desperate for players contacted Steven, and offered him a deal to return to the greatest sport ever known. His ability to help bring the team back to the playoffs would be a major factor in the interest he received from a few teams in the SMJHL after not being drafted.

Moosecop · 01-31-2020, 03:48 PM

PBE PT

Legend · 01-31-2020, 04:40 PM

Stirling MacTavish was just a wee little Scottish chap when he picked up a hockey stick, however it isn't the one you're thinking of. MacTavish started playing field hockey at the young age of 8 but quickly realized he was much too slow for the other boys (and girls), plus he was a lazy twat that didn't like running. Unconfirmed reports have him smoking this young as well, but many people just thought he was a tubby piece of lard. Anyways that's when he moved onto Ice Hockey because he realized he could glide, and coast. It took him awhile to learn how to skate but he felt important when he passed the puck to his teammates (not to mention he didn't have to skate up the ice, but coast behind the play). Somehow, some way he started getting better and better (maybe it was around this time he started drinking, which would explain why he was always so loose and free on the ice). He might not be the best player on the ice, or even in the top 9, but he's in everyone's mind off the ice (mostly because they're worried about losing him on a drunken bender when they visit Alaska and never seeing the poor guy again). Time will tell where this Scottish "Sensation" ends up. The SHL? Prison? Who knows.

XLeafer · 01-31-2020, 05:08 PM

Austin Roenick was already a hockey player when he came out of his mother. He was gifted this talent from God which was the ability to have power from his arms which also means he can shoot the puck very accurately. Austin Roenick was a huge fan of Alexander Ovechkin who can score goals very well so Roenick as a young child wanted to do the same. The first thing he picked up was the puck and he just threw the puck to the hockey net because he loves goals and he wants to score goals to help his team win games so that is why he loves goals and ever since he entered this world, he already had the ability to do so. Goals were his favourite thing to do have see. Passing and defending he finds very boring and lame but being a sniper and sniping that son bitch into the net is what he loved.

Boomcheck · 01-31-2020, 05:17 PM

Cameron Carter II, son of former SHLer Brooklyn Carter, has ALWAYS been a special talent. He grew up around the game as his father was a prominent coach in the PHL league so he grew up in eastern Canada, but would often be in hockey camps over in Texas or LA. CC2 credits a lot of his success to Brooks who was able to teach him about Hockey at a high level, so Carter was able to take that knowledge and apply it. He has always had a goal scoring touch but he is mostly known for his physicality and relentless all around abilities. It's no fun playing against Carter and he often chirps all game while playing at a higher level than his peers. The entire reason he ended up so confident in himself is because no one was there to stop him or hold him back, none of his peers at these hockey camps were at his level. Brooklyn was considered a massive bust having been selected in the top 10, but only played around 100ish games in the SHL with only around 5 point records-- CC2 vowed to prove his father's brand of hockey works.

200 Words

***SDCore*** · 01-31-2020, 05:45 PM

NSFL Claim

ImShiny · 01-31-2020, 08:02 PM

When Vent took his first step onto the ice, he fell flat on his face. It took Vent a very long time to be able to feel comfortable to just stand on his own and be able to skate around. Starting hockey was even more difficult. Vent had no idea how the sport was played since his father played soccer growing up and his mother played basketball. He had the athletic ability in him and just needed to be brought out through hard work and coaching. After a while, it was obvious Vent landed towards being a defenseman. The young boy had no trouble standing in front of shots and getting hit. His offensive capability was very limited but he began to flourish as a defenseman at a young age. Vent's coaches noticed Vent liked to be physical for his age and was one of the biggest kids around. He wasn't afaird of contact and actually welcomed it whenever he could. He had the competitive spirit in him they just had to work on having Vent not take careless penalties all the time. Hockey wasn't the only sport Vent was playing at a young age. He loved to go outside with his friends and play football whenever he could and loved the physical contact of the sport.

Toivo · 01-31-2020, 08:34 PM

Officially, Elijah Jones II is the son of a great hockey player and GOMHL Hall of Famer, Elijah Jones. Elijah Jones II was born in Mexico, but he grew up in Ontario. He was playing hockey from the start and was naturally gifted. His father’s reputation opened a lot of doors for him, but Elijah Jones II ability on the ice earned him attention from scouts early on. His parents were adamant that Elijah Jones II got a good education, but he had trouble focusing on studies when he would rather be at the rink. His grades suffered and his parents actually took him out of hockey for a year. Once his grades improved, Elijah Jones II was allowed to play hockey again. His time off stunted his development somewhat, but the years following he shook off the rust leading to him being a top prospect in the SHL during season 49.

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